The Cold Always Bothered Him, Anyway
by aridancer
Summary: A lighthearted drabble between Merlin and Arthur on their way to Arendelle for a meeting concerning matters of state with Queen Elsa. AU, set after an alternate Season 5. Updated with continued chapters!
1. Let It Snow

[**A/N:** Came up with this one day after watching Frozen for the umpteenth time. Please leave a review and let me know if you think I should add on to the story!

I don't own anything from Merlin or Frozen.]

* * *

"Do you want to build a snowman?"

"…What?"

Merlin grinned and repeated himself. "I said, d'you want to build a snowman? I just thought, since there's so much snow around and all, that maybe you might want to…" He trailed off when he saw the look on Arthur's face.

"Merlin. Do I look like a twelve year old _girl_?" It's bad enough we have to ride through this ghastly weather. I don't want to _play_ in it, too."

Merlin shrugged. "Your loss." His eyes flashed gold, and three clumps of snow rolled themselves together. With a wave of his hand, two sticks and several rocks plopped into the snow, arranged in a manner that resembled arms, eyes, and a mouth.

Arthur brought his horse to a halt and snickered. "What is _that_ supposed to be?"

"A snowman, obviously," Merlin told him, slowing his steed down as well. "Why are you laughing?"

"Well, it's just… It's not very good, is it? And it doesn't even have a nose."

"He has _character_," Merlin grumbled. They rode on, leaving the lopsided snowman behind. "So… Tell me about Arendelle. Have you been there before?"

Arthur shook his head. "No. Ever since my father discovered that the young queen had magic, he cut off all contact with their kingdom. It's a wonder they even invited me to this wedding, considering how my father must have acted towards them. I heard that there was a brief cursed period about two years ago when Arendelle was frozen over, but it was resolved quickly. Now the queen's younger sister, Anna, is getting married to an ice miner."

"An… ice miner?" Merlin questioned, with a quizzical look on his face.

Arthur shrugged. "It must be something they do up here in the North. Of course they couldn't have the wedding in the summer… It had to be the blasted winter. I feel as though_I'm _frozen over." He pulled his cloak closer around his shoulders.

"So you said it's the younger sister getting married, and not the queen herself? Huh. That's unusual," Merlin mused.

"Is it?" Arthur considered that for a moment. "Well, Queen Elsa came into power as a fairly young woman. I would imagine that she has her focus on matters of state, rather than which man she'll court next. And she has plenty of time to marry, if she chooses to do so. Her younger sister, though, has no need to worry about running a kingdom."

Merlin smirked. "And have you met Queen Elsa?"

"No, but I look forward to it. I have heard that she is…" The tips of Arthur's ears turned red, and he cleared his throat. "Because, you know, Arendelle could be a valuable ally to Camelot. It is important to align ourselves with as many kingdoms as possible."

"Of course, sire."

"Merlin?"

"Yes?"

"Shut up."

"Yes, sire."


	2. Whatever Snow Does

[**A/N:** Hi, guys! I got a lot of great feedback for this story, so I decided to keep writing and see where it goes! Updates will probably be fairly infrequent and pretty short, but I hope you like it. Some chapters will be more fluffy like Frozen, and others will get down to more serious Merlin business; but all in all, this is meant to be a sweet, cute story. Thanks for the reviews so far, and let me know what you think of this chapter!]

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"There it is: Arendelle!" Merlin grinned as they topped a mound of snow and waved at the beautiful castle that lay ahead, past a bustling village and a blanket of snowy trees.

"Stop waving, you clotpole. It's not as though they can see you," Arthur grumbled. He hopped down from his horse, which had stopped mid-tread, whickering uncomfortably. "Oh, for… Merlin, fix this." One of his steed's horseshoes was thoroughly coated in thick, clear ice.

"As you wish!" Merlin aimed a hand at the horseshoe and cheerily uttered an incantation. A thin jet of flames sparked forward and hovered by the horse's hoof, melting the ice around it.

Unfortunately, the sudden burst of fire startled Arthur enough that he fell backwards into the snow. "Merlin… I'm soaked through," he growled through chattering teeth.

"Whoops," Merlin chuckled nervously. "On the bright side, the ice is melted!"

"Can't you dry my clothes?" Arthur asked, wincing as he swung back up onto his horse.

"I haven't quite mastered that yet," Merlin admitted sheepishly as they started forward again. "I might incinerate your trousers."

Arthur rolled his eyes good-naturedly.

* * *

Citizens of Arendelle milled about, pleasantly chattering about the visiting King as he and Merlin rode by. They entered the gates of the castle, past a few courteous guards, and dismounted as a young woman with her red hair in two braids ran forward from inside to greet them. She was followed by a burly and slightly gangly blond man, a reindeer, and a moving lump of snow.

"Gah!" Arthur nearly jumped out of his skin as the snow ran up to him. It was complete with stick arms, a crooked carrot nose, and wide eyes that seemed to stare into Arthur's soul.

"Hi! I'm Olaf, and you must be the King of Camelot's servant! You look very servant-y. Hi, Arthur!" Olaf waved exuberantly at Merlin. "I saw you waving at the castle when you were on your way here."

Arthur was too freezing and unnerved to correct him.

"Oh,Olaf, I think you've got them mixed up! This one is King Arthur," the young woman exclaimed.

"She's right," Merlin told them. "I'm Arthur's servant, Merlin. Well, officially I'm a freeman now, but Arthur still treats me like a servant. I'm more like his companion, really." He chuckled, elbowing Arthur, who merely stood there with his arms crossed. "Actually, that didn't come out the way I wanted it to," Merlin mused, clearing his throat awkwardly.

"…Are you _sure _you're not just trying to confuse me?" Olaf asked, putting his stick hands on his hips. "This is like Sven and Kristoff all over again!"

"_Well_, welcome to Arendelle," the redhead said warmly. "I'm Anna—er, Princess Anna—and you've met Olaf, and the reindeer is Sven, and that's my fiancé, Kristoff." She gestured at the blond, who inclined his head. "Oh, Arthur, you look half frozen! And wet!"

"I'm glad someone noticed," Arthur said drily.

"Let's get you inside. My sister will want to see you once you've warmed up." She ushered them inside while Kristoff stabled their horses. Olaf trailed along behind Arthur and Merlin, humming a nameless tune while Arthur kept glancing back at him uneasily.


	3. Yoo Hoo

[**A/N:** To answer a reviewer's question: As I usually do in fics where Arthur's not with Gwen, in this AU, Gwen wound up with Lancelot and everything's hunky-dory. Arthur is King with no Queen, Gwen and Lancelot are living happily ever after, and even Merlin met a sweet young maiden in the marketplace. I'm not sure if I want to actually make this ArthurxElsa. Things might go in that direction; I'll just have to see where my writing takes me.

Thanks for following, favoriting, and reviewing, and sorry it's been literally a year since the last update!]

* * *

"I still don't understand how that thing can be _alive_," Arthur whispered to Merlin, referencing the unnatural creature that called itself Olaf. "At least _your_ magic makes sense."

Merlin shrugged. "Everyone's powers are unique, I suppose. I've certainly never tried to animate a lump of snow. I wonder what would happen?"

"Don't get any ideas," Arthur scolded him. "One of those things loose in the world is one too many already."

Anna led them to a very warm room that was filled with steam. "We commissioned my friend Oaken to build a sauna right in the palace," she explained. "I know it feels wet, but at least it's warm. I had to take you here because it's where we keep most of the towels." She opened a cabinet. "Whoops, those are salad plates." She opened the one next to it. "Oh, here we go! And I do have a spare set of clothes here for you, Arthur. I think you and Kristoff are about the same size."

"Thanks, my lady." Arthur toweled off and changed in a side room. The shirt fit him well, and the trousers were just an inch too long, but it was nothing he couldn't bear. When he returned, he cleared his throat. "I believe we've kept Queen Elsa waiting long enough. Shall we go and meet her?"

"Of course! And don't worry about keeping her waiting; really, I'm sure it's fine," Anna said merrily. "Actually, usually Elsa likes to be left alone. But I bet she's very excited to meet you! It's not every day the King of Camelot comes to visit."

"That's true," Merlin said nonchalantly, grinning at Arthur. Arthur ignored him and followed after Anna.

Finally, they reached the throne room. "May I present King Arthur of Camelot and his friend Merlin!" Anna announced.

Elsa rose from the throne she'd been sitting on and smiled at them. "Welcome to Arendelle, King Arthur. Merlin." She nodded courteously to both of them.

Merlin raised his eyebrows. Elsa truly was stunning—she cut a shapely figure in her ice-blue gown, which brought out the color of her eyes and was a nice complement to her white-blond hair, twisted into a plaited braid that draped along her shoulder.

He could see that Arthur thought highly of her, too. In fact, Arthur hadn't yet said a word in reply. Merlin smiled and discreetly kicked Arthur in the side of his shin.

"AHH-I-I-it's a pleasure to meet you," Arthur gasped out, controlling the urge to sit down and grab his shin, and then grab Merlin and give him a nice little pounding. "We thank you for the invitation to your sister's marriage celebration, and are grateful for the opportunity to begin a new friendship between our kingdoms." He bowed, and then straightened up; not quite able to look the beautiful Queen Elsa in the eyes. At least he'd finished his greeting graciously, even though that first sentence got away from him. Hopefully he had managed to make a good first impression.


End file.
